Chile. The Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Francisco Moreno held a working meeting with the president of the National Television Council, CNTV, Carolina Cuevas, to launch a joint agenda that allows expediting compliance and implementation of the Mandatory Broadcasting -known internationally as Must Carry- and the Digital Television Law.
Both initiatives recently achieved significant milestones; the CNTV approved the regulations that perfect the procedure for applying to Must Carry and the deadline for the coverage of digital transmissions in 100% of the concessions in regional capitals of the country was met on December 15, 2021.
In particular, the Mandatory Retransmission, or Must Carry, allows regional, local and local-community television concessionaires to be included in the programmatic grid of pay-TV operators.
Although the right of "Must Carry" has existed since the enactment of Law 20,750 in 2014, it was necessary to have a sufficient number of digital concessions in operation and, at the same time, adopt a procedure to implement it, which was effective as of December 3, 2021.
Meanwhile, digital terrestrial television (TVD) will allow the increase of actors in the television market, increases the global offer of channels and makes it possible to advance to channels with niche content. The demands of the deployment of Digital TV indicate that by the end of 2022 they must be transmitting with technology 50% of the concessions in provincial capitals, also adding to the totality of concessions in the regional capitals of the country that should be transmitting with digital technology by December 15, 2021.
The Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Francisco Moreno, said that "this coordination work seeks to unblock and expedite these initiatives, allowing cable operators and TV stations in the country to adapt to international standards in the field. We appreciate the important role of the CNTV in this process, which has allowed us to move forward with a fluid dialogue and listening to all the parties in question."
"We have made progress in operationalizing the Must Carry to promote the decentralization of content and make visible the voices and needs of audiences from all corners of the country," emphasized the president of the CNTV.
"For the CNTV, the implementation of the Must Carry is a priority. Today's Chile demands greater participation and local representation and, in that line, the inclusion of regional content in the television programmatic grid becomes a legal, economic and cultural imperative," he added.
The new approved procedure establishes that any concessionaire of a regional, local or local community nature interested in exercising the right of compulsory retransmission must request the CNTV to make a call for public tender, in respect of one or more pay-TELEVISION operators -or permittee-, in order that their signal is disseminated through them in the respective scope area. Previously, you had to apply to a limited territory. For this, the CNTV will first specify the feasibility after the subtel technical report and the background provided by each cable operator.
Digital TV Migration
Digitalization gives the opportunity to increase the number of signals on the air, since each concession allows the transmission between 3 and 4 signals.
At the meeting, Undersecretary Francisco Moreno and the president of the National Television Council established to focus on field work to communicate the benefits for local audiences of both initiatives and collaborate with consolidating bridges with the industry to expedite both implementations.
"The implementation of the Digital Terrestrial Television Law will allow citizens to access a high-definition service completely free of charge. To this end, we have made progress with the concessionaires to be able to jointly implement the coverage and deployment requirements contained in the TVD Law, with the aim that around 80% of Chileans can count on digital television by the end of 2022. The development of this type of content and technology undoubtedly democratizes access to entertainment, educational and sports content for thousands of Chileans throughout the country," concluded the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Francisco Moreno.
